What Goes Around, Comes Around (Formerly School Life)
by yukipup5ds
Summary: "You know...when I first made this deal, it didn't seem so bad: Favors in exchange for protection from the bullies at the school. But now things are just getting out of hand. I can't tell anybody...who would believe me? Looks like I'll be doing this for a while. Wait...who is this guy? Maybe things will start looking up after all." AkuRoku, SoRiku. Some parts could be graphic.
1. What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

_~*Hey everyone! Yukipup here. If you haven't read my profile yet, then you should know that this is my new account from my original "yukipup" one. All stories will now be uploaded and updated onto this account. That being said, here is the first of many that has been revised, renamed, and reuploaded. Enjoy and remember to R&R!_

_Kingdom Hearts and its characters belong to Tetsuya Nomura, and are not my own*~_

**Chapter 1: What Have I Gotten Myself Into?**

I opened my eyes sleepily then moaned as I swung my arm over my face to block out the bright sunshine coming through my window.

"Roxas!"

I turned as my brother, Sora, peeked his head in the door. "Good morning, sunshine!" he announced.

I smiled slightly. "Only you would be this bubbly first thing in the morning."

"You're beginning to sound like Riku!" Sora laughed. Riku was Sora's best friend from way back. The two of them were both older than me, Sora by one year, Riku by two. We all went to high school together with our friend Kairi, and her cousin, Naminé. Speaking of school, I groaned and pulled the covers back over my head. A startled yelp left my mouth as my brother jumped on top of me.

"Roxy-foxy, get up!"

I peeked out of the blanket and glared at him. I _always_ hated that nickname….with an undying burning passion.

Sora snorted. "Like you're gonna do anything."

"Wanna bet?" I countered. I didn't give him time to reply as I pushed up forcefully throwing him off the bed. He landed with a loud "umph!" and I couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Roxas," Sora whined, rubbing his butt, "that hurt!"

I leaned over the side of the bed and grinned. "Well you should know better than to jump on your younger brother early in the morning." And it was true. Me plus early morning equaled a sarcastic as hell and slightly pissy Roxas.

"Roxas, Sora! Breakfast!" came our mother's voice from downstairs. I moaned and rolled over, pulling the blankets back over my head as Sora quickly jumped up and dashed for the doorway. Sora's footsteps stumbled slightly as he ran to make his way down the stairs to the breakfast table and soon I heard him yell happily as he reached the kitchen.

The sound of the doorbell made me open my eyes and it was then I realized I had drifted back off to sleep. "Roxas! Seifer's here…" My eyes opened wider and I threw the covers off of my body and stumbled to the doorway.

"Sora! Don't let him…" My words cut off as Seifer appeared in front of me. "…in," I finished, taking a couple steps back.

Seifer smirked a bit as he walked into my room and softly shut the door behind him. "Really, Roxas? Don't let me in? What's up with that?"

"I-I was just saying that because I'm not ready for school yet…" I trailed off as the blond started walking towards me, matching the steps I took backwards. Seifer was a senior at our high school and kinda sorta my boyfriend (if that's what you'd call it). I say kinda sorta because no one had officially asked anyone out and yet we spent a bunch of our time together outside of school…mostly at his house doing…stuff. Stuff that if my family found out what I was doing, I would probably be killed and my dead body grounded for the rest of eternity, but what the hell. There was only a two year difference between us, so I had shrugged it off.

I was jolted from my random space-out as my legs hit the side of the bed and I fell backwards. Seifer's smirk grew as he leaned over me, using his arms to hold himself up. "Slept in again, slacker?"

"Erm…I, uh…no?" I stammered.

"I don't believe you," he replied, leaning closer to my ear.

"Uh…um…um…I…um…"

"Hush," he told me. Then he leaned down and pressed his lips to mine, lowering himself as he slid his hands behind my head and pushed me more into the kiss. His tongue slid across my bottom lip and I parted mine obediently, letting him deepen the kiss even more. If there was one thing I had learned, it was that Seifer liked control. He loved having control over me specifically, because he knew that I wouldn't resist. But could you blame me? The guy was on the football team and highly looked upon. I'd be a fool not to listen to him.

"Roxas…" His voice was suddenly in my ear, and it took me a moment to realize that he had broken the kiss and his hands were now roaming down to the hem of my shirt.

"S-Seifer? I don't think we should do this before school….and especially not in my—" I stopped talking as he looked up and gave me a look that obviously told me to shut up. Then, once I was silent, he proceeded to pull my shirt over my head and wasted no time in ridding me of the pajama shorts I was wearing. "You do need to get ready for school…right?" he said with a predatory edge to his voice.

"Y-yeah," I managed to reply, "but…."

"Shut up, Roxas," he said again as he stood straight up. My breath quickened as I saw him start fumbling with the button on his jeans then, to my relief, the door opened and Sora burst in.

Sora took one look at the position and lack of clothes on my part and frowned. "Seifer! Can't you go one day without molesting my brother?! Get out!" To further emphasize his point, Sora pushed Seifer away from me and towards the door. "Out! Now!"

I breathed a sigh of relief as Seifer grumbled something then left the room, nearly running into Sora's silver-haired best friend, Riku, who had come to walk Sora to school. The two of them swapped glares before the blond senior walked downstairs and we all soon heard the door shut after him.

Sora walked back over to me and pulled me up into a sitting position and began scanning me for any kind of damage. "Are you okay, Roxy?" he asked in slight panic.

"I'm fine," I sighed, pulling my arm out of his hand.

"Honestly," Riku said as he stared at me, "I don't see why you put up with him."

I looked to the side then walked over to my closet and pulled out my uniform without a word. Sora noticed the uncomfortable silence and quickly turned to Riku. "Hey, Riku! Why don't you go wait downstairs? I'm sure there's extra breakfast that you can have!"

Riku stood for a moment and looked between the two of us then walked downstairs without another word.

I heard Sora sigh audibly and then my bed creaked as he plopped down on it. "Roxas…Riku is right. Seifer's bad news…I _know _you know that…so then why do you hang out with him?"

I ignored him and pulled on my shirt.

"Roxas!"

I swung around and glared at him. "You wouldn't understand, Sora!" I snapped.

Sora looked a bit taken aback but quickly recovered and countered my glare. "I won't understand what? That you like getting it up the ass any chance you can get?! Roxas, you're my younger brother, I'm going to look out for you. But you make it hard when you don't try to defend yourself! If you don't want it then say something!"

I opened my mouth to speak but closed it again and pulled on my pants and began adjusting my tie.

Sora huffed and gave an irritated sigh before stomping out of the room saying, "Fine. It's your screw up."

I stopped fumbling with my tie and looked down at the floor. Why _did_ I hang out with Seifer? Whenever he came near me, something involving sex would always result…so why? I sighed and tightened my tie. What a wonderful way to start a school day…

* * *

I groaned as I sat in Biology class and stared out the window. We were studying genetics which, in itself, is a pretty interesting subject, but when you had someone like Professor Valentine teaching it, the whole room became one big snore fest.

I jumped when the bell rang to signal the end of class and quickly gathered my books together.

"Hey, Roxas."

I looked up to see a girl with short black hair standing near me. "Oh, hey, Xion," I said back as I stuffed my books into my bag. Xion was in the same grade and my best friend as well as the younger sister of Kairi, a close friend of my brother's and Riku. Just by looking at her, though, you wouldn't be able to tell she was younger than her redheaded sibling. Not because she looked older, but because their faces looked so similar anyone would think they were twins.

"Are you okay?" Xion asked as I struggled to get my books inside my bag.

"Fine," I answered, looking up at her. "Why?"

"You seem a little out of it," she replied. "Did something happen with Seifer again?"

"Shh!" I hissed, quickly covering her mouth with my hand. "Do you want the whole junior class to find out?!"

She shook her head quickly and mumbled an apology around my hand.

I lowered my hand and tugged her arm to pull her closer. "He came to my house this morning," I whispered. I noticed her eyes widen and I nodded. "Yeah…had me pinned to the bed and almost got me _again_ if it hadn't been for Sora."

"Why don't you say something, Roxas? I mean…I know you were okay with it at first. But this is getting out of hand!"

"Who can I tell, Xion? Look who I'm dealing with! Seifer is head of the football team, the disciplinary committee, and he practically has every teacher in the school eating out of the palm of his hand! Anyone'd believe him over me any day…" I sighed and averted my eyes from her face.

"I wouldn't," she said, her face falling into a pout.

"Well yeah, but…you're my best friend. And Seifer…well…if I don't do what he tells me…let's just say it won't be good. Just think of it as a weird form of protection."

"Roxas…" Xion sighed. I could tell from the look on her face that she wasn't happy with the deal I was a part of, but as I said before, Seifer loved being in control. And if I didn't cooperate with whatever he wanted, he was going to make my life a living hell. And I don't mean swirlies in the toilet, being stuffed in a locker kind of hell. That seemed more like a paradise compared to the senseless beatings I would get from the other members on the team…especially from Rai, Seifer's "second in command". Xion was the only one who knew about the circumstances…not even Sora knew. But she was right. This _was_ getting out of hand…but what could I do?

I was pulled from my thoughts as the next bell rang and it was then I realized we were still in Professor Valentine's classroom. Thank goodness for us, it was the lunch period. I slung my bag over my shoulder and placed my arm across Xion's shoulders and pulled her with me as I started walking. "Hey, I'll be fine," I assured her. "This _is _ me we're talking about. Seifer will let up eventually, you'll see."

Xion gave me a weak smile which quickly faded into worry. "What?" I asked, frowning slightly.

"Roxas!"

I flinched as I heard Seifer call me and turned to face him along with Rai and their friend, Fuu. "Yeah?"

Seifer slung an arm around my shoulders and sharply pulled me towards him. "Ready for lunch?" he asked with a devious smirk as his friends snickered behind him.

I swallowed and glanced at Xion. "Well, actually, I—"

"Great!" Seifer said, cutting me off. "Let's get going then."

I whimpered slightly and looked back at Xion as I was forcefully dragged away. "I'll be back soon!" I called to her.

"Wouldn't count on that," Rai chimed in.

"Nope," Fuu agreed.

Seifer snickered and a couple minutes later I was pushed into an empty classroom.

I watched as Fuu and Rai locked the door then took positions on either side of it. I started to turn to look at Seifer, but as I did, I was instantly forced to my knees facing the blond's large and erect member. "You know the drill," he said, resting his hands on the top of his head. "Lunch time."

I stared at Seifer's face for a second longer before letting out a small sigh and taking the throbbing body part in my mouth. This really was going to be sucky day…


	2. My Day Just Keeps Getting Worse

_~*Hey all, here's Chapter 2! Now before I get to the actual chapter, I have a word of caution. __**This chapter is pretty graphic…as in, if not close to, rape worthy. **__That being said, if you want to stop now, I strongly urge you to do so. If you choose to read on, then you have been warned, and I don't want to have to read about this on my review page. Like I said, it is graphic, but things are just starting to heat up so bear with me. So, without further ado, here is chapter two! _

_Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and it's character belong to Tetsuya Nomura, not me…no matter how much I wish they did.*~ _

**Chapter 2: My Day Just Keeps Getting Worse**

My eyes fluttered open and I was staring at a plain white ceiling. What happened to me? I lifted my head weakly and looked around and it suddenly hit me. I was in the school infirmary. Great. I sighed and started to sit up only to feel a sharp pain run up my spine and I fell back down with a cry. I suddenly heard footsteps and the school nurse, Nurse Aerith hurried to my side followed closely by Xion and Sora.

"Roxas!" the latter two called as they reached my bedside. Aerith went to the other side of the bed and removed a wet rag from my head I didn't know I had on.

"What happened?" I said weakly.

"Seifer found you unconscious in one of the class rooms," Aerith told me. "He said that he didn't know what had happened and brought you here."

"Sei…fer?" I said slowly. I gasped when it all came back to me. "Seifer?! But he-!" I sat up too quickly and yelped again, falling back onto to bed. Aerith quickly placed a hand on my chest and shook her head. "No moving, Roxas."

I moaned then looked to my brother who was staring intently at my hand.

"Sora?" I said softly.

Sora met my eyes then looked back to my hand and gently took it in his own. "Your wrists are bruised," he said softly.

The recent events started flooding back to my mind, and after a few seconds I remembered exactly what had happened.

"_Oh god, Roxas," Seifer moaned, his head thrown back as he panted lightly. _

_I glanced over at Fuu and Rai who were facing the door, keeping a look out for anyone that could interfere with their best friend's pleasure. That split second, however, was all that needed to pass as Seifer looked down at me and noticed I wasn't paying attention. I let out a light whimper as my hair was grabbed and my face pulled away from the bigger teen's body._

"_What the hell, Roxy? Are you not entertained enough?" A devious glimmer flashed across his eyes before he knelt down and slid his belt out of the loops of his pants. "All right then. Guess we need to step things up a notch."_

_My eyes widened and I began to stand up, but Seifer predicted my motions and within seconds had me on all fours in front of him. I struggled against the blond as leaned over me and tied his belt around my wrists, binding them in place. I tried desperately to free myself before Seifer got the chance to do what I knew was coming, but it was no use. The knot that was tied wasn't too tight, but it was tight enough to do what Seifer wanted._

_I felt a hand on each side of my waist as Seifer slipped his hands under my shirt and began to slide them down my body until he reached my pants. I tried to squirm away, but Seifer had my pants on the ground before I knew it. I flinched when I felt the tip of the blond's cock press against my bottom and I lifted my head slightly to look at my wrists. The knot had loosened lightly, just enough I noticed, that I might have been able to pull my hand loose. If only I…"Ahhh!"_

_A shot of pain shot up my spine as Seifer forced himself into me. No matter how many times this happened, I just couldn't get used to it. Seifer was the farthest thing from what I would call "gentle". The friction that was produced was hot and painful, and though it didn't seem to bother Seifer, for me the pain was just under unbearable. I whimpered and clenched my fists as he pounded into me, tears beginning to form in the corners of my eyes. _

_I opened my eyes slightly, not really seeing anything clearly through the tears that were blurring my vision. I blinked, sending them down the side of my face, and at the same time I laid eyes on my hands. The belt was loose. The knot that had been holding my wrists together had become more undone as Seifer had pounded me, and I found out that I was able to pull my wrists out of the bondage. Wasting no time, I pulled myself away from Seifer and flipped over onto my back, then quickly crawled backwards._

_The look of rage that overcame Seifer's features was enough to make anyone freeze where they stood…including me._

"_You really shouldn't have done that," he said coolly as Fuu made her way over to us, a roll of gray duct tape in her hands. "No fighting back now."_

I shook the memory away and sighed. "Damn it," I said softly, closing my eyes. My wrist tingled and I rubbed the uncomfortable feeling away with a small whimper.

Sora laid my arm back down and turned to Aerith. "Will he be okay?"

Aerith gave him a small nod and smiled. "He'll be just fine. We'll just let him rest here for the rest of the day and he should be good to go once the school day's over."

Sora gave me a worried look and squeezed my hand. "I'll be back later, okay?"

I let out a whine and clenched Sora's hand as hard as I could. "No…" I said quietly. Hell, I couldn't even hear myself speak anymore, but I knew Sora had gotten what I said because he placed his other hand over mine and looked back up at Aerith.

"You can stay with him if you like," she told Sora. "You can, too," she added to Xion.

Xion nodded in reply and I relaxed slightly. At least the nurse was cooperating with me. She looked up as the phone rang then smiled at us. "I have to go take that. Roxas, try not to move, okay?"

I nodded and sighed.

As soon as Aerith was gone, Sora propped himself up on my bed so he was leaning over me and stared into my eyes. "Roxas, what happened?"

I opened my mouth to speak then shut it again and shook my head. In this state, I was bound to spill everything. And that would spell trouble for everyone who knew me. So instead, I changed the subject. "Where's Riku?"

"He's in Calculus." Sora replied with a sigh as he sat up on his knees.

"Don't you have Calculus, too?" I asked him.

"Yeah," Sora said, drawing out the word. "But Riku takes really good notes and he told the teacher what was going on so I'm excused for the day. Plus, me and Riku always do homework together so I'm not really missing anything."

"I see," I said with a small laugh. Riku was right when he told me once that if there was a way to slack off, Sora would find it. But then again I, his younger brother, was pretty much stuck to the bed for the next 5 hours so I really couldn't blame him. I looked over at Xion. "What about you?"

"Free period," she told me. "Not missing anything either."

"Well, that's good I guess," I said, turning my attention back to the ceiling as a feeling of drowsiness over came me. "Well…since I'm stuck here, I might as well take a nap."

Xion nodded and stood up. "I'll go get you something from the cafeteria so you can eat."

I smiled my thanks at her then turned my attention to Sora again. He was staring at my wrists with the same intentness as before except his eyebrows were pulled into a slight frown this time. "Roxas…" He looked up at me and started to say something else, but I must've looked like crap because he just gave me a small smile and shook his head. "Nothing. Go to sleep."

I returned his smile and let my head fall to the side as my eyes closed and sleep overcame me.

* * *

I watched the sidewalk pass beneath my feet as I walked home. School had just ended, and while Sora and Riku went to basketball practice, I decided to ditch. Okay, so I didn't really ditch because I had permission from the coach to skip out that day due to my stay in the nurse's office.

I suddenly heard the sound of a car pulling up to me but I didn't look up.

"Oh, Roxas."

I instantly froze. Why couldn't he leave me alone? I had already suffered enough…right? I forced myself to look up and sure enough saw Seifer and his gang in a shiny red convertible. "Hey, Seifer." I said as I tried to keep the shakiness out of my voice.

"Hey, little man. Ditching practice?"

I shrugged. "Not really feeling up to it," I said, looking to the side.

"Wanna come over? Coach cancelled football practice today." His eyes narrowed in a kind of mischievous smirk which confirmed my thoughts of what was on his mind.

"Actually, I have a bit of homework I need to do," I lied. "Maybe tomorrow?"

Seifer's face fell into a full glare. "No maybe about it," he said coldly. "You _will_ come over tomorrow. You're lucky I don't throw you in the car now." Then he drove off without waiting for a reply from me.

I sighed. I apparently had no idea what the terms of this agreement would include when I agreed to it. I groaned as I pushed open the front door to my house and walked inside, slamming the door behind me.

"Roxas?" came my mother's voice from the living room. A moment later she stuck her head around the wall. "Roxas! How are you, honey? The nurse called me earlier today. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I mumbled, throwing my stuff on the floor and walking into the living room to join her. I stopped when I saw a spiky haired blond sitting on the couch watching TV. "Cloud?" I said aloud.

The blond turned and looked behind him then waved a hand in greeting. "Yo," he said before turning his attention back to the screen.

"Cloud came by today to see how you and Sora were doing," Mom explained. Cloud was my oldest brother…half brother really. Mom had him with another man long before she met my and Sora's dad. Way back in high school, I think she said. The guy was actually pretty cool. Unlike his father, Cloud would actually come by and check on his mother and half brothers every once in a while since he was well over the driving age and had his license and a car.

I hopped over the back of the couch and plopped down next to him. "Hey, big brother."

"Hey there, squirt," Cloud replied, ruffling my hair. "Heard you had some trouble at school today."

I sighed. Seemed mom had spread the news. "Nothing big to worry about," I said, hoping that I sounded as sure as my words were supposed to.

Cloud studied me for a moment then looked back to the television. "Well, alright," he said, although he didn't sound too convinced.

I jumped when suddenly the spot next to me vibrated. Cloud reached down and pulled his phone out of his pocket and glanced at the screen after pressing a couple buttons. I looked at him curiously as he groaned and stood up. "What's up?" I asked.

"The twins have gone and gotten themselves in trouble again," he sighed.

I nodded slightly and laid back against the cushion. By "twins" I could only guess that Cloud meant the Price twins: Axel and Reno, Cloud's best friends from back in middle schhol. From what I heard the two could be pretty rambunctious, but I had never met either of them in person…so needless to say, I didn't even know what they looked like. "So I guess you gotta go, huh?" I asked, not bothering to hide the disappointment in my voice.

"Yep," Cloud answered as he stretched his arms slightly. "Seems Tweedledee and Tweedledum crashed their car and need a ride home."

"Doesn't surprise me," Mom called from the kitchen. "Those two have always been trouble."

Cloud smiled at Mom's comment then looked down at me and held out a fist which I bumped with my own. "Will you be okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," I replied. "Nothing I won't be over by tomorrow."

"Good." Cloud ruffled my hair again before walking away. I heard him say a few words to Mom and then he was out the front door and headed down the road.  
I pretty much spent the next couple hours just sitting on the couch watching TV until Sora came home, followed closely by Riku.

"Welcome home, Sora," I heard my mom say. "Oh! Riku! How nice to have you over!"

I could hear the smile on Riku's face as he thanked her. Mom never got tired of having Riku over. Something about how "nice and polite and so proper" he was…heh. Yeah, okay. Sure, Riku was all that, but Mom didn't know him when he had my brother alone…and that was when I decided to stop thinking and looked back to the TV.

Seconds later, Sora hopped over the back of the couch and landed next to me, snatching the remote off of my lap. "Sora!" I complained, reaching over him as I tried to take the remote back.

"What? Spongebob's coming on!" he said as he changed the channel while pushing me off with his free hand.

"Sora, you're 18!"

"So what?!"

"You're too old to watch Spongebob!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!" I argued back, jumping on top of Sora and grabbing at the remote again. I grinned when I finally got a hold of it…then stared blankly at my hand as it disappeared. "Huh?" Sora and I looked up and saw Riku tapping the remote on his shoulder as he looked down at us.

"You two are pathetic. Why don't you watch something like this?" Me and Sora glanced at the screen as Riku sat down and changed the channel to Animal Planet…only to see some sort of parasite squirming through somebody's insides.

"Gross!" We both yelled, covering our eyes. I peeked out from between my fingers and saw Riku watching the TV with a smirk on his face and his feet resting on the coffee table. "Sora, your boyfriend's a freak," I whispered, covering my eyes again.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Sora whispered back, hitting me with his elbow.

"I can hear you," Riku called, never looking away from the TV.

Sora pouted and launched me off of him and onto the floor. "Ow!" I whined, rubbing my head.

"Payback." Sora stuck his tongue out at me then crawled over to Riku's side of the couch. "Rikuuu," Sora whined, pressing his cheek against Riku's shoulder. "I don't wanna watch this…can't we watch Spongebob? Please?"

I rolled my eyes as Sora gave Riku his best puppy dog eyes and dropped open my mouth in disbelief as Riku lifted up the remote and changed the channel to Nickelodeon without another word. Then, as Sora squealed in excitement, Riku smiled and subtly tilted his head slightly to rest his cheek on Sora's hair.

"Ugh," I groaned as I picked myself off of the floor. Sora and Riku looked over at me in confusion as I walked away. "I need to pee," I grumbled, trudging up the stairs. Okay, so I didn't really need to pee, but it was so obvious that Sora and Riku liked each other…being in the same room as them when they were together just screamed gayness. Was I jealous? …Maybe a little.


	3. Thanks for the Help, I guess

_~*Hey everyone! So I just gotta say thanks to all of you who have reviewed the past couple chapters, I really appreciate it! c: I also wanted to say sorry I haven't updated much in the past month. Things have been a little hectic with prenatal visits, work, and all that taking up my time. Anyway, that being said, I'll try a little bit harder to update more frequently, since I know how antagonizing it is to wait for someone to update one of your favorite stories…I'm going through that right now haha. Anywhozziles, to answer a question I got on the last chapter, I'm actually changing small parts of the story (if I feel it's necessary) before I reupload it. I feel like I've really matured as a writer since I first started this story (hence the new account and whatnot), so I just wanted a chance to show everyone that ^-^ Now that that's all out of the way, enjoy Chapter 3! *~_

**Chapter 3: Thanks for the Help…I guess.**

I whined lightly as sunlight shone through my window and onto my face, reminding of how bad I really needed to get curtains. Rolling over, I pulled the covers back over my head and closed my eyes as I tried to go back to sleep. I opened my eyes again and cocked an eyebrow as I heard giggling coming from downstairs. Riku must have spent the night.

I huffed and kicked the blankets off of my body, but stayed laying down. Seconds later, I heard Sora's heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. "Roxy-foxy! Breakfast!" he called from my doorway before dashing back downstairs.

I groaned, but got up anyway. If Riku was here, I knew for a fact that I would be late for school…and that was only because Riku would have Sora so distracted, my brother wouldn't carry out his normal routine of jumping on me continuously to get me out of bed. It was sad how much I depended on Sora's hyperactive energy to get me up in the morning. Making my way sleepily to the closet, I pulled out a clean school uniform and threw it on then draped my tie over my shoulders. I looked over myself in the full size mirror that was on my wall and shook my head after running my fingers haphazardly through my hair. I had learned long ago that my spiky hair was a permanent mess…it ran in the family. I then picked up my shoes and trudged down the stairs to the kitchen.

Sora was perched on the table in front of Riku and was holding a strawberry to the silver head's mouth. "C'mon, Riku, it's good!" Sora encouraged.

Riku stared at the strawberry for a moment before smirking and seductively licked the fruit before slowly biting into it, never taking his eyes away from Sora's. Sora shuddered and quickly pulled his hand away as Riku took the strawberry out of his mouth and laughed. Sora glared at him for a moment before finally realizing that I was in the room. "Roxas!"

I shook my head and walked to the pantry, pulling out a pack of Pop-Tarts and putting the contents into the toaster. "You two have issues," I mumbled to them as I poured myself a glass of milk from the pitcher that was sitting on the counter.

Riku laughed again and tossed the half eaten strawberry at me, which I dodged. "Real mature, Riku," I said as my food popped out of the toaster.

"You like it," Riku said, leaning back in his chair.

"No, that would be my brother," I countered.

Riku glanced over at Sora then smiled. "True," he agreed. He popped a strawberry into Sora's mouth as my brother started to respond and I couldn't help but laugh at him. Sora bit into the fruit with a pout and slid down into a chair while he chewed silently and glared at the table.

"Sora, stop trying to kill the table with your ineffective death glare," Riku said, standing up.

"It's not ineffective," Sora mumbled, standing up as well. "Are you going to come with us, Roxas?" he asked as he picked his book bog off of the floor.

"Mhm," I replied, finishing off my milk. I tossed the cup in the sink, threw my backpack over my shoulder, and followed after my brother, grabbing my breakfast along the way.

It only took a few minutes to walk to school and the three of us got there 45 minutes before the first bell rang.

"Roxas!"

I looked over and saw Xion running towards me as she waved. I smiled and walked up to her. "Hey there, Xion," I greeted her.

"Hi!" She turned to Sora and Riku and grinned. "Kairi and Naminé are in the gym," she told them before turning and running back through the door of the gym. I blinked as she ran off and stared at the door she had just disappeared through.

"Xion's hyper today," Riku observed.

I mumbled an agreement and the three of us walked though the gym doors. The thing about getting to school early was that you didn't have to worry about rushing around to get to class…at least not right away. You could just sit around on the bleachers with your friends and talk about whatever until the bell rang. So that's what we did. Me, Sora, and Riku made our way to the usual spot where our friends gathered and climbed up the stairs to them. Xion, Kairi, Naminé, and Olette were gathered together talking about God knows what while Hayner was talking sports to a bored looking Pence. Pence jumped up when he saw me and grinned. "Hey Roxas."

"Morning Pence, Hayner," I said as I sat down between the two groups. I turned to the girls and smiled at them, resulting in a giggle from Naminé. And it started. I wasn't sure if anyone ever told Naminé I was gay…okay so in reality I was bi and leaned more toward guys, but still. Naminé was my brother's best friend's _cousin_. That would be weird.

"Uh oh," I heard Olette whisper. I noticed that the other conversations had died down as well and Sora and Riku had moved protectively in front of me. That could only mean one thing…

"Little Roxy can't come out to play?" Seifer sneered.

"'Little Roxy' doesn't need to play with guys like you," Sora said coldly. I will admit, sometimes, my brother had guts.

"Stay out of this, runt," Seifer said back, just as coldly.

Sora's eyes darkened and Riku stepped forward till he was inches away from Seifer's face. "Back. Off." Riku warned.

Seifer smirked. "What will you do if I don't?"

Riku copied his smirk. "Are you sure you're willing to find out?" he asked sweetly.

Seifer narrowed his eyes and looked behind Sora at me. "You're coming over today," he said coldly, pointing a finger in my direction. Then turning to Riku he added, "Whether he wants to or not."

I saw Riku's fist clench as Seifer walked away and Sora leaned forward and tugged on Riku's shirt, silently telling him to sit down. Riku did and Sora cuddled up to him with a slight pout on his face.

"I'm not that much of a runt…am I?"

That school day passed pretty fast. I was too distracted by Seifer's after school demand to really think about anything else. I sighed and laid my head on the table. It was now lunch time and I was sitting at the usual table with Sora, Riku, Kairi, Xion, and Naminé. Naminé nudged me with her elbow and gave me a worried look when I looked up at her. "You okay?"

"Yeah," I said quietly, laying my head back down. Okay, so it was a lie. Naminé seemed to know this too because she just sighed and went back to picking at her salad. A couple minutes later, I felt someone else nudge me, but this time it came from the other side. I looked up again to see Sora grinning at me as he held out a dollar bill. I stared at the money for a moment then back at him. "What am I supposed to do with that?" I asked him.

Sora rolled his eyes and shoved the money into my hand. "Go buy something to eat, Roxas," he told me. "You haven't eaten anything but those two Poptarts…and you didn't even finish those."

I stared at him for a moment before taking the dollar and standing up with a sigh. "Fine." I walked inside the kitchen area and headed straight for the freezer. There was only one thing that would distract me…and I was only hoping the lousy cafeteria had it. I scanned the contents of the freezer then grinned when I found what I was looking for. Sea salt ice cream. Sure, it sounded weird, but it was one of the best ice cream flavors in the world. I grabbed the light blue ice cream bar then went over to the cashier and paid for it before heading back to the table.

"Ice cream?" Riku raised an eyebrow at me as I sat down and ripped open the plastic. I stuck my tongue out at him and began sucking on the corner of the bar.

"C'mon, Riku. You know Roxas loves ice cream," Sora defended me with a giggle. "He's addicted."

"Am not," I mumbled around the frozen treat.

"Are too!" Sora giggled as he poked my nose. I made a face and slid down further into my chair as I continued sucking on my ice cream.

"So," Riku started as he picked at his salad with his fork. I swear, he was such a girl sometimes.

"So?" Sora repeated, leaning his head on his hand and staring at Riku. "So what?"

"So what are we going to do about Seifer?"

My eyes widened and I choked on a chunk of ice cream I had managed to suck off. "What…what about Seifer?" I managed to ask after my coughing fit passed.

Sora looked at me with a serious glimmer in his eyes. "You can't go over there Roxas. I won't let you."

I stared down at the table and nibbled on my ice cream some more.

"Sora's right, Roxas," Riku said. He put his elbows on the table and laid his head in his hands as he looked at me. "You're going to get hurt."

No really? When did they figure this out? But….it's not like I had much of a choice…right? I mean, what else was there for me to do? Just go up to Seifer and say, "Seifer, I don't really like this deal of yours…can't we just get along since you're graduating"? Pfft. Yeah right. And I would be over the desk being pounded into roughly for defying him in no time. Hell, if I went over there today, that's probably what would happen anyway. I sighed and swallowed the last bit of my ice cream.

"Roxas…" Sora started. Lucky for me, at that time the bell rang signaling that lunch was over. I jumped up, grabbed my bag and headed toward the door. "Bye guys!" I called over my shoulder. I wasn't waiting for a response. I just needed to get out of there. I knew they were right. I knew this was really bad for me. But, for one reason or another, I couldn't…no, I _wouldn't_ try harder to end it. I was afraid of Seifer. And if this was the only way to keep his gang off my back….then what other choice did I have?

I sighed as I stopped by the water fountain. All of this stressing was making me thirsty. I yelped as I was suddenly pulled away from the fountain and slammed into a wall of lockers. "Ow," I whimpered. I opened my eyes as I heard the person responsible snicker, and I couldn't help but whimper again.

"Roxy! You're away from your little posse!" Seifer jeered. "About damn time. I was wondering if I was going to have to go in there and pull you away forcefully." He leaned down and inhaled against my neck then let out a breath that sent shivers down my spine. "Your little friends made quite the disturbance this morning," he said softly before nipping at my neck.

I gasped lightly and started to squirm to get away. Seifer stopped and glared at me, causing me to cease my efforts.

"Is there a problem here, boys?" a new voice suddenly said.

I looked over at the source of the voice…and stopped dead as I got trapped in bright, emerald green eyes. The owner of the eyes, and the amazingly sexy voice, was a tall redheaded guy. His hair was in long spikes that eventually pointed down his back, but only barely past his shoulders. He had a skinny frame that was dressed in a nice, white collared shirt, black slacks, and a red tie around his neck. And, like I said, he was tall. Like taller than Seifer. Okay, maybe not too much taller, but he was for sure taller.

I stopped gawking when Seifer released my shoulders to turn and face the guy fully. "Can I help you?" he asked, clearly annoyed.

The redhead merely smirked and placed a hand on his hip. "Well…ya see. I don't really like seeing people get picked on. It doesn't go over well in my book. So I suggest you let the kid go and head along to class or wherever it is you thickheaded football jocks go after lunch. Got it memorized?"

Seifer narrowed his eyes and stalked up to the other guy. "And what makes you think I'll listen to you? Who the hell are you anyway?"

The other grinned a little. "Name's Axel Price. I'm a teacher here. And a close, personal friend of Principal Saïx Xavier."

I noticed Seifer's eyes widen a bit and looked back to the redhead. Axel Price? Then that meant that this guy was Cloud's best friend! But what the hell was he doing in my high school telling off the captain of the football team?

Axel smirked again. "Commit it to memory, kid, because next time I won't go so easy on ya."

Seifer frowned again and went from looking at Axel, to me, and back again. And then he walked off.

I let out a sigh of relief and leaned against the wall. "Thanks," I said.

"Yep." Axel waved a hand and turned to walk away.

"Hey!" I ran after him and pretty much hopped alongside him as I tried to keep his pace. "Your name's Axel, right?" Pfft, of course his name was Axel. What kind of a question was that? But I had to find out if he was really who I thought he was.

"That's me," Axel replied.

"So…do you know Cloud Strife?"

Axel stopped walking and stared down at me. "Yeah, I know him…" His sentence died and he frowned slightly as he looked at me intensely. "Oh!" he suddenly exclaimed. "You're Spiky's little brother!"

I nodded and grinned. "Yeah. Roxas Key."

"Well, hey there!" he laughed, ruffling my hair. "No wonder you looked familiar. Damn, you've grown! You were like…tiny when I last saw you, man. Like…tiny. Like…" I could tell he was searching his mind for something tiny to compare me to, but he soon gave up and shrugged. "Tiny," he said again.

I laughed softly and looked his outfit over. "So…Cloud didn't ell me you were a teacher here."

Axel broke out into a laugh and I looked up at him in confusion. "Teacher! Yeah right! That was a little something to get macho man off your back there. I'm only an intern. A teacher's _assistant_ really."

"Oh…so you're not really a friend of Principal Xavier?"

"Actually, yes! Me and Saïx were friends when we were little. I was on my way to see him so I can get assigned a class of brats to help with." He grinned at me again, before adding, "No offense."

"None taken," I replied with a grin.

"So, you should probably get goin', Roxas. Pretty sure class is about to start." As if to emphasize his point, the bell rang and Axel pointed up towards the intercom where the sound came from and smirked. "Told ya."

"Oh crap!" I turned around and ran in the other direction towards my art class.

"See ya, Mini-Strife!" Axel called after me. I waved at him and turned the corner in to the Arts hallway. And as I ran, my mind started wandering. Why had Axel helped me? No, I wasn't complaining, but why had a guy like that even bothered to step into something that didn't involve him in the least bit? Sure, I was thankful for him doing it…but that only meant things would get rough when I saw Seifer again. After all, there was nothing Seifer hated more than not getting his way right when he wanted.


End file.
